Thread by @PrasoonPratham

This is a logarithm.

You'll see it in a lot of machine learning formulas, computer science, and math in general.

Here's a really simple explanation of how it works.
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Before we understand how logarithms work, it is important to know how 'exponents' work.

aᶜ=b (read as "a to the power of c equals b") is an exponent where a,b and c are numbers.

aᶜ=b just means that a multiplied by itself c amount of times is equal to b.

Here are some examples:
- 2² basically means 2 multiplied by itself 2 times which is 4
- 2³ basically means 2 multiplied by itself 3 times which is 8

So on and so forth.

Logarithms are basically a way of representing exponents in a different format.

Let me show you what I mean, both the formulas that you see below are equal.

logₐb = c is basically saying that "a to the power of c = b".

Dare I say, logarithms are exponents in disguise.

Here's a small exercise for you, what is the value of c in the below equations?

I've put them in logarithmic and exponential notation to make it easy for you.

Logarithms are used in all sorts of places, machine learning, computer science (time complexities)... you name it.

They are also a bunch of logarithmic properties that we can use to our advantage, but that is something I'll discuss in another thread.

That is the end of this thread.

Consider following @PrasoonPratham if you like bite-sized content like this on machine learning, math, and computer science.

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250,000 people viewed this thread, I guess I'll do more threads on math now 😁

480,000 now, wow.